Dirk Noort C.C.C

Why did I become a Chef:

At the age of 15 I had to decide on a profession.  In Holland they place you in a trade school at an early age. They find out in middle school if you are a applied student or a academic student.  I was an applied student and it was suggested to me to go to a trade school. I decided to become a Chef!

In trade school I learned culinary, baking and pastries skills and professional serving skills which included wine studies, table set up studies also service carving skills at the table in front of guests.

Working in the industry:

When I finished culinary school I enrolled in a apprenticeship program, it was a 4 year program where each week you worked 5 days, went to school 1 day and had one day off.  In that time period you would have to find your own job. I started in a small restaurant which does not exist anymore and worked there for one year, then I worked in a Hotel in the city of Zwolle which is about an hour east of the city of Amsterdam. The last 2 years of my apprenticeship were in Amsterdam.  One year spent at the Doelen Hotel and the next at the L'entree restaurant. As a apprentice you would have to work with four different chefs in order to gain the maximum experience. You would therefore change jobs every year.

Doelen Hotel Amsterdam, Amstel River (photo: pexels.com)

Career in the Culinary Field:

I have worked for 30 years as a Chef in Michelin star restaurants and Hotels in Holland (also at Cees Helder's Parkheuvel restaurant which was a 3 Michelin in the year 2002 I worked at Restaurant Parkheuvel in Rotterdam in 1986 and in those days they did not have any Michelin stars yet because the restaurant was just opened). The restaurant still exists and has a 2 Michelin now.

I moved to Toronto in 1989 and worked at the Four seasons Hotels, the Westin Hotel, the King Edward Hotel and the Waterside Inn Hotel where I was the Executive Chef for 10 years.

After my career as a Chef, I started teaching at George Brown College. I have been teaching culinary programs at the College for 7 years.

Personal Philosophy of Cooking:

My philosophy of cooking is to cook with passion. Respect the ingredients you are using and the people that have produced them. Be kind to people so you can work well in a team, because you cannot do it alone!

Be passionate in your cooking skills and what you serve to your customers because at the end of the day, they are paying you! The most rewarding thing of cooking is when your guests or your own family enjoys what you have made and served to them! The smiles and appreciation are priceless!

Blog experience:

This blog is mainly done for my students, to get to know me, and to see what a blog could look like. It has been fun and I really enjoyed creating this blog, I hope you will too! I look forward to reading your blogs and hearing your experiences.  I am sure that you will have great fun creating your own blogs! I have seen some amazing blogs from former students!! So good luck!!

Culinary Quote:

In 1992 when I got married I went on my honeymoon to see my Family in Holland and I also went to Paris. My favourite Chef in those days was Chef Joel Robuchon voted "Chef of the Century" by the guide Gault Millau in 1989.

I had the amazing experience to eat in his Le Jamin restaurant and it was the best meal I had ever had in my life! Probably will be the best meal ever, I have no doubt!

One of his quotes that always stuck to me was a very simple one and for me will always be accurate!

Here it is:

A great Quote from Chef Joel Robuchon!

In short: make the food good and simple then the best taste will be achieved!!

That is it for me for and my Culinary career blog. Hope you found it interesting to read. Cooking is a great skill and I have a lot of passion for it. To create good and tasty food and serve it to customers and Family is a beautiful expression of any professional Chef and hopefully your guests will think the same!!

Thank you for taking the time reading my blog!

Dirk Noort C.C.C